Today, Saturday 29th March 2008, I headed for the shops at about 9.15. This was a pleasant experience which I put down partly to not eating breakfast.

Jesus once said: “Fast and you will be rewarded.” This has always proved true on the rare occasions when I have succeeded in fasting.

After bringing the shopping home, I rode the momentum of this early activity and set off for a walk round the neighbourhood.
In Berens way a large overweight labrador waddled up the hill towards me. He probably recognised a kindred spirit.

When I spoke to him in encouraging tones, he waddled slightly faster to reach me and appeared more animated. I gave him a good patting and he had a good sniff.

We parted company reluctantly as he continued his way up the hill sniffing at the leaves along the road in search of new and exciting discoveries. Dogs are an example to us all. Their lives are full of enthusiasms and delight in the mundane.

I continued on my way and had a chat with a man who was washing his Jaguar (the car not the animal) down. “You are an example to us all!” I said. He smiled and we discussed choosing cars.

He had once told a salesman that he wanted to buy a new Ford Mondeo as soon as possible. The salesman said he would get back to him but did not ring up for a month.

In the meantime his potential customer had become fed up with waiting and bought a Jaguar instead. We all need to strike when the iron is hot unlike this particular salesman.

We continued to discuss the good and bad points of the Mondeo and the Jaguar. Eventually, my friend said: “You could go mad by analysing too much.”

I remember going crazy in the sixties after I made a New Year’s resolution to speak the truth and nothing but the truth. I did this for about a fortnight. By then I realised that I spent far too long analyzing what the truth was. This was taking up too much time and was driving me mad in the process.

For example, I wished my next door neighbour ‘Happy Birthday!’ and then said: “I didn’t really mean that!” She hardly spoke to me for a year after that.

Later, I realised that I probably did want her to have a happy birthday even though saying ‘Happy Birthday’ is often just a knee jerk response to the news that it is someone’s birthday!

I decided to live without the absolute truth thereafter and probably saved my sanity, my friends and my life by doing so!

Today, Friday 28th March 2008, the rain poured down until the afternoon. I went for a walk at about 2 p.m.

En route, I posted a magazine which had been mistakenly delivered to me. It had the same number of house as mine and the name of the road, like mine, began with an ‘M’. Near enough!

The magazine got stuck at the top of the post box. I apologized to a man who had just driven up to post a letter which he now had difficulty pushing into the box.

I walked on and picked up a stick I could use on my return to push the magazine further down into the post box.

I explained to my window cleaner who I met a little further along what the stick was for and asked him to tell the police about my plan in case I was arrested while pushing the stick into the post box for trying to steal letters from the box!

He said he would disown all knowledge of the stick! In the end,
I pushed the stick into the opening and successfully dislodged the magazine from where it had stuck.

There were no police cars in the vicinity although there was a learner driver and an instructor who may have wondered what I was up to!

You may think I was paranoid about the police but they are trained to spot suspicious body language and if you wish to
avoid arrest you must take pains to avoid any actions that might look suspicious.

I was once arrested in St Paul’s Cray around midnight. I was walking late and distributing religious leaflets while I walked. At one point I pushed a leaflet through the open window of a car.

Seconds later a non-uniformed policeman rushed to my side and grabbed my arm. “Why did you put your arm into that car?” he said almost exultantly.

“I just put a leaflet in through the window” I explained.

Fortunately, he and his companion soon found the leaflet. There had been burglaries in the area, so they still took me to the local police station to see if I had any stolen property on me.

All they found was a guitar plectrum so they decided I was innocent and even offered to give me a lift home!

The only other time I was arrested was in Jersey. I was playing the guitar at a Christian Youth camp. At midnight I went for a run fairly close to the beach. On my return a police car drew up and said that some local Jersey residents had reported a man running along the road presumably after committing burglary!

Obviously, no one runs at night in Jersey. I guided the Jersey police to the camp where they woke up most of the campers and my identity was confirmed!

To cut a long story short, avoid arrest by not putting your hand inside an open car window and by not running along the road in Jersey after midnight!

This morning, Wednesday March 26th 2008, I heard some good advice on ITV about avoiding heart attacks and strokes. The tips came from Dr Hilary, a celebrity doctor, who has been in Liverpool checking out people he met on the streets of that great city.

Men in particular benefited. Most men seldom visit a doctor and when they do, they have a shopping list of items that have been bothering them for years.

One man was an overweight funeral director who was often given, on arrival, a large whisky by the bereaved family as they toasted absent friends. The social pressure to drink was irresistible.

There was also much stress as time is always tight at a funeral and you are dealing with highly emotional human beings.

The following three tips applied to him and to many others.

Brisk walking is, of course, one of the best ways to exercise. You avoid stress injuries and improve your health in all manner of ways.

Michael Masterson, the owner of the ezine, Early to Rise, makes health his priority and always takes exercise early in the day. He believes that living by your priorities can turn your life around.

If you don’t follow your own priorities you will end up following some one else’s or following less important activities of your own which won’t help you make much progress in achieving your dreams.

Today, Tuesday 25th March 2008, was a cold but sunny day. I walked round the neighbourhood soon after noon. I met my window cleaner. He too had seen a heron in the same area as the one I saw yesterday.

I mentioned the shortness of the heron’s legs. He suggested it might be a midget heron and then more seriously that it was a young heron whose legs had not grown fully yet. I shall have to check this out on the net!

On the morning news, a Bevin boy, Warwick Taylor described how he and many other young men of about 18 years old were conscripted in 1943 to work in the mines as the UK was running out of coal.

They had no choice. One of Bevin’s secretaries would pull one or more random digits from a hat and all whose draft number ended in those digits were given the task of working the mines.

The boys came from different professions, from desk work to hard labour. Most of them wanted to join the services to fight for their country but were told that they were serving their country by keeping the home fires burning.

Warwick was already trained to serve in the RAF but had to spend two years in the mines before he returned to the RAF.

The boys were named after Ernest Bevin, the wartime minister of Labour and National Service. 48,000 young men were drafted into 1800 mines all over the country. Many were not released from the work until 1948.

However, their work was not recognised until 2007 when Tony Blair announced they would be given a badge. Warwick Taylor had campaigned for 60 years for a defence medal to be given to the Bevin boys as it was to other civilian workers like air wardens.

Now after 60 years of perseverance, the boys are receiving not a medal but a badge. They clearly deserve a medal but a badge is better than nothing! The first badges will be presented by Gordon Brown today.

They had no choice about the work they did but often suffered abuse for not being on the front line. Eric Morecambe, the comedian, and Mr Fix-it, Sir Jimmy Savile, were both Bevin boys.

Many are now dead but their families will hopefully receive the badge in their name.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday 23rd March 2008, was a cold day and the first snow of 2008 fell in Chislehurst.

I seized the opportunity and took three photographs out of the back door of the snow at its heaviest. I rightly guessed the snow would not last. When I walked later in the day, the snow was gone.

Today, Easter Monday, some snow did return. As soon as I got up I watched a program about Nick and Lesley Valance whose business in Surrey had gone bust. I found this program to be surprisingly inspiring.

They had decided to move to Spain and start a hotel. Lesley commented that you only have one shot at life and need to embrace it. They had a budget of £250,000

They bought a 400 year old palace and then had to wait for four months for permission to start turning the palace into a hotel. Lesley wisely commented again that they should enjoy each day like the Spanish and not just fret about the delay.

Just before the license came through a huge part of the building collapsed removing six rooms from their hotel. This was probably thanks to demolition work being carried out by a neighbour.

The neighbour refused to discuss compensation so they had to start a second track in their lives concerned with going to court and hopefully getting some money back that way. They realized that could not allow this negative track in their lives to disturb the main track they were on – getting the hotel up and running.

They also saw the silver lining in the fact that if the hotel had been opened quite a few people could well have been killed. Also, the absence of a wall would give a better view!

They had other problems too. Money was very tight especially after the huge setbacks they had suffered. The building bill had doubled to half a million pounds. They had to borrow more money and to incur more debt.

They had to open in June, so some income would start coming in to start paying off their debts. Nick said he could not afford to think negatively. He had to believe that they would reach the June deadline although they had missed every previous deadline since they came to Spain.

Nick clearly realised that he had taken a big gamble: “I have never been one to shirk a gamble.” He was also not one to ignore a problem. He did not bury his head in the sand but got busy.

Lesley also had the philosophy that every problem had a solution. The boys were not happy at a local Spanish school. The teacher was annoyed that they were not listening. “How can you listen if you don’t understand the language,” said one of the boys.

After a year, the boys moved to an international school where they were much happier although they were bored by the neighbourhood in which they lived.

They kept going and after 18 months of hard slog, Nick and Lesley felt they were nearer their dream. Lesley commented: “We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. My original dream of the hotel is there. We’ve done it.”

However they would need 50% occupancy just to break even. They were thrilled when they received their first booking from their website. The booking fee of 90 euros was the first money they had made in two years!

After two years, they were proud and thrilled with their palace hotel. They even enjoyed running the hotel even though they had never done this kind of work before.

Sons, Harry and George, now seemed happy. They enjoyed their school and made friends. They talked less about England.

Lesley’s language skills had improved since no one spoke English and she was willing to have a go at speaking Spanish even when the locals looked puzzled!

They still had large debts to pay off but their situation, thanks to their determination, hope and belief, had improved enormously

Lesley summed up her feelings: “I don’t feel so afraid of life.”

She realized that having her family about here was more important than anything else:

“Nick and the boys being happy feels pretty good but I do miss Marks and Spencer and English sausages.”

An interviewer asked: “Have you achieved your dream?”

“Pretty close!” said Nick

Later today, I walked round the neighbourhood and noticed a bird with unusually large wings flying towards a roof.

As I got closer I saw what looked like a heron perched on top of a roof in Clarendon Way. It was grey in colour but its legs seemed too short for a heron.

Unfortunately I had not brought a camera with me. I watched the bird for about thirty seconds and then it flew way flapping its large wings.

Today, Wednesday March 12th 2008, I walked round the neighbourhood twice. In my evening walk, I saw a fox in Clarendon Way coming out of one garden and heading into another across the road.

Usually, foxes are more often seen in Berens Way where there is far less traffic. On the whole I prefer Berens Way. It has some great little lantern type lampposts which remind me of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. There is even a wishing well in one of the gardens.

Clarendon Way has its charms too. There are two houses with palm trees but there are also two dangerous electricity enclosures. Recent winds have blown the door off one of these enclosures – the same one I mentioned before in my post about the Gates of Death.

Recently, UK weather forecasters have been frightening the life out of everyone with dire prophecies of gales like those in 1987 which changed the face of the nearby woods. These became like new woods because so many trees were blown down.

I haven’t seen one tree blown down this time. A few twigs have fallen on the local pavements and the odd dustbin has been blown over. Meanwhile in the USA, they have had some real gales.

I was amazed to learn that four men had died in the USA after shoveling snow. My step brother tells me that he knew this was dangerous. Fitness may not be enough protection but it should help.

Vince Palko, an ex linebacker from the States, sent out an email to his list today entitled “Train To Failure or Fail To Train”. Some people either train till they are exhausted and unable to do another pushup etc or they fail to train.

He commented that the majority fail to train. We all need to get off our backsides and do some form of training whether it is walking, jogging, cycling or weightlifting etc.

Today I walked twice and did some weightlifting but I need to do far more of both and I need to train to failure at least once or twice a month. If I had a trainer, he would say “Much room for improvement”

Today, Monday 3rd March 2008, I took the long route round the neighbourhood. It was cold but sunny.

I met N, a friend from my walks in the wood. She had often spoken about her husband C so I was interested to meet him. He and N ,being slim, were both feeling the cold. Being heavy and overweight, I prefer the cold.

After a brief chat, we mentioned how quickly the year had progressed. I described how I already had my Christmas tree ready for next year! They laughed and as is the tradition in the UK and probably elsewhere in the world, we parted after a laugh.

Laughter is good for your health. I think I read somewhere that a group of people who lived to 100 had little in common except that they all enjoyed a good laugh.

Later in the day my car battery went flat yet again so instead of teaching my martial arts class, I went along the short neighbourhood route for my second walk of the day. Walking, too, can prolong your life!

Today, Friday Feb 29th 2008, was leap day. One lady proposed to her man on a roller coaster. He screamed “Yes!” as the carriage hurtled downwards.

I went for a short walk at about 11.15 p.m. The wind was almost gale force. As I walked past the house that is due for demolition, there was a loud rattling of chains as the fence around it was blown heavily by the wind.

It surprised me and reminded me of the scene in ‘Great Expectations’ when Pip is hung upside down by his heels by the convict in his chains.

In the Isle of Man, strong winds are commonplace but not so in
London. I remember frequently cycling against the wind in the Isle of Man between Castletown and Port Erin. It was hard work.

I once flew in a small plane in heavy winds to the West Coast of England to play rugby against Merchant Taylors’ School. I vomited before playing and can’t remember much about the match.

Journeys by ship to and from the Isle of Man were even worse. They would some times take four hours and then you had to hang around at sea until it was calm enough to get into port.

I can understand why people kiss solid land when they arrive at their destinations! Whenever I feel depressed I thank God that I am on solid land!